Brief: Conservancy rallies to save post office

The Santa Monica Conservancy is calling for a full court press on the United States Postal Service to prevent the closure of the historic post office on Fifth Street.

On Aug. 17, the USPS formally announced its decision to move services currently at the Fifth Street location to the carrier annex at 1653 Seventh St., south of Colorado Avenue and the future Exposition Light Rail Line.

The Postal Service would then sell the building on the open market.

The conservancy opposes the move out of fear that a future owner will not respect the historic nature of the New Deal-era building.

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation is so concerned about the failure of the Postal Service to provide adequate protections that it has named the historic post offices to its 2012 list of the Nation‚Äôs Most Endangered Historic Places,” the conservancy wrote in a release issued Tuesday.

City Hall has already announced that it will be working on an appeal with the support of Congressman Henry Waxman, and the conservancy asked the public to help support the effort by sending letters to the Postal Service by Aug. 31.

It also calls on the Landmarks Commission to prepare to nominate the post office for status as a recognized landmark. The commission can‚Äôt move on a nomination until after the building is sold.